A NEW EXPLANATION FOR THE REPRODUCTIVE WOES AND MIDLIFE DECLINE OF HENRY VIII*

Henry VIII's first two wives experienced multiple pregnancies culminating in late-term miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal mortality. After his fortieth birthday, the king's mental and physical health underwent rapid deterioration. In this article, we argue that both his reproductive troubles and his midlife pathologies can be explained if Henry VIII were positive for the Kell blood group. A Kell negative woman who has multiple pregnancies with a Kell positive male will suffer repeated miscarriages and death of Kell positive foetuses and term infants that occur subsequent to the first Kell positive pregnancy. This pattern is consistent with the pregnancies of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Additionally, Henry VIII may have suffered from McLeod syndrome, a genetic disorder of the Kell blood group system, which is a condition that causes physical and mental impairment consistent with his ailments.

We are indebted to the anonymous reviewers and editors of the Historical Journal whose astute comments and recommendations greatly enhanced this article. Kyra Kramer would also like to thank Indiana University for allowing residents of Bloomington access to its library resources, thereby making her independent research possible.

Footnotes

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We are indebted to the anonymous reviewers and editors of the Historical Journal whose astute comments and recommendations greatly enhanced this article. Kyra Kramer would also like to thank Indiana University for allowing residents of Bloomington access to its library resources, thereby making her independent research possible.

17 M. L. Powell and D. C. Cook, ‘Treponematosis: inquiries into the nature of a protean disease’, in M. L. Powell and D. C. Cook, eds., The myth of syphilis: the natural history of treponematosis in North America (Gainesville, FL, 2005), pp. 9–62, at pp. 24–30.

35 Dearth and incomplete obstetrical documentation among a few relatives makes it difficult to verify the Kell pattern among these individuals, yet the overall pattern of reproductive failure among Jacquetta's male descendants strongly suggests the presence of the Kell positive phenotype.

38Wimer, B. M., and Marsh, W. L. et al., ‘Heamatological changes associated with the McLeod phenotype of the Kell blood group system’, British Journal of Haematology, 36, (1977), pp. 219–24, at p. 223. The Lyon effect is the inactivation of one of the X-chromosomes in female mammals in which one of the two X-chromosomes is not expressed.

39Danek, A. et al., ‘McLeod neuroacanthocytosis: genotype and phenotype’, Annual Neurology, 50, (2001), pp. 755–64. The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei in the brain called the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus. In humans, the basal ganglia are believed to control a diverse group of functions, including motor control, cognition, learning, and emotions.

* We are indebted to the anonymous reviewers and editors of the Historical Journal whose astute comments and recommendations greatly enhanced this article. Kyra Kramer would also like to thank Indiana University for allowing residents of Bloomington access to its library resources, thereby making her independent research possible.